Reviews

Specialising in red wine barrels, Starward takes advantage of the Australian climate and experiments with various bottlings in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city.Australia is really not known as a whisky country. "Four seasons in a day" say the inhabitants about their own climate. In the morning, you never know whether you need a sunshade or an umbrella. But this means that the whisky works much faster with the cask than it would if the temperatures were constant. At Starward, they think in terms of projects. There is not "the one" standard bottling, as is the case with other distilleries. Basically, they bottle with a lower alcohol content than usual, which should lead to a sweeter character. In addition, the climate is drier. This in turn means that the alcohol content of the whisky increases instead of decreasing.

The 15 Years Viking Heart is supposed to fill the gap of the standard bottlings between the 12 Years and the 18 Years Highland Park and thus expand the range of the distillery from the Orkney Islands. Unfortunately, we are not entirely convinced.The topic of Vikings as a marketing tool is certainly debatable, especially since the Vikings certainly did not produce whisky in their 500 years on Orkney. Nevertheless, the legends and symbols of the Nordic people always lend themselves to an exciting all-round marketing package.The ceramic bottle is of course an eye-catcher on the shelf and feels very good. The well-known lion and snake pattern as well as a heart are embossed on the bottle. The reason for the choice of the bottle is commitment to the environment, as well as the storage of Whiksy in stone vessels, as was the rule 200 years ago - back to the roots combined with the idea of sustainability, which shapes our future. We like that.

The Hercynian single malt whisky comes from the Hammerschmiede in the German Harz Mountains. The Journey stands for the journey of the whisky through a number of cask types.Home is where the Harz is writes the distillery on the back of the outer packaging. If you do a little research on the website, you quickly get the feeling that a lot of love goes into the work there. For example, the distillery does not want to join the Association of German Whisky Distillers because they consider themselves mavericks and the whisky comes first. Somehow likeable. Hammerschmiede has been producing single malt whisky since 2002, making it one of the oldest whisky distilleries in mainland Europe. In the meantime, the range includes a not negligible selection of good to very good Whiskys. Elsburn The Journey is often named as a deputy classic and entry into the Harz whisky world.

The so-called Pure Malt Whisky (euphemism for blend) Apogee XII from the house of Bimber is described as a milestone of the London-based craft distillery founded in 2015. According to their own statements, they are reacting to the increasing demand and are extraordinarily convinced of their product.Bimber's 12-years blend consists of single malts from Speyside and the Highlands and is finished in Bimber's own ex-bourbon casks. If you believe Bimber, it took two years to give this whisky its character through the fine art of blending: "Over two years in development, Apogee stands at the apex of our blending prowess and offers a showcase of our ceaseless dedication to meticulous maturation." We are curious! The Pure Malt comes in an exciting bottle. Made from a haptic, hammered glass, it is meant to mimic the surfaces of Bimber's small copper stills.